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Promoting your business online in today’s short attention span theater isn’t easy. Even those companies that currently rank well on search engines or have a thriving social media presence still face stiff competition. But simply ranking fairly well and engaging with your audience on social media is going to cut it.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, an effective content marketing strategy is a must. Developing and executing an effective content marketing campaign takes a lot of work, but it will be well worth the long term benefits it can provide your business.

Higher Visibility in Search Engines

Every time you add a new post to your blog, it’s another page that Google is going to index. While having more pages doesn’t necessarily correlate to more search traffic, it does give you the opportunity to rank higher for more search queries. By targeting long-tail keywords and topics that your customers search for, you won’t have any trouble appearing in those searches with your archived information.

The primary reason to create content is to engage, inform, help, and bring value to your audience. Once you’ve taken care of this, you can use the remaining space to pitch what your business has to offer. When done right, this can lead to a noticeable increase in your conversion rate.

Improved Brand Recognition

The people that are reading your content are building an impression of your business. When visitors are looking for helpful information to a problem or an immediate need they have, and they find what they are searching for on your website – This builds trust and credibility, and you can quickly become an authority with your audience.

Decreased Marketing Costs

The only thing that content marketing will cost you is time (and effort) but it can provide a pretty darn good ROI. Effective content marketing isn’t a race. But you’ll get there. The sooner you start investing your time in a solid content marketing campaign, the sooner you’ll begin to see results.

No matter what you are looking to achieve, whether its higher conversion rates, increased traffic, or a genuine relationship with your customers, there’s no reason not to include content marketing in your overall marketing strategy.

It’s easy to share images of entrées you serve in your restaurant. And
who is really going to complain about your new fall fashion line for your boutique clothing store?

And if your business sells items like handmade crafts, you have definitely got an “in” on Instagram. But, does this mean that every business should consider using Instagram as part of their marketing strategy?

It IS possible for just about any business to use Instagram. But, some
businesses may need to be more strategic than others in their approach.

For instance, you don’t want to post images of actuarial tables when you sell insurance. Yes, it’s an integral part of the insurance business, but it’s not going to inspire many people to share your content…

.. And may end up with unfollows if you this approach.

If your business doesn’t translate well on Instagram, you may have to
think of alternative methods to get your message out. For example, that same insurance agency could use images of disaster aftermaths and their company disaster relief team helping the people who were affected.

Then ask your followers to comment about their own experiences & encourage them to share their own images.

This is just one example of the many ways you can engage with your audience through Instagram, even if you don’t think you have post worthy content to share.

The more you get your followers involved, the easier it will be to get people to share. Also, the higher the influence of the people sharing, the greater the reach.

This is not to say you should just simply focus on influencers, but, they can definitely expedite the growth of your following.

Instagram is a new medium for small businesses but that is changing, and there hasn’t been a better time to “get in” when it’s good.

Do a little competitor research and find other insurance companies on Instagram (or whatever your business happens to be) and pay attention to the type of engagement that is happening. If It works for them, there is a good chance something similar can work for you.

Another option is to consider partnering with other businesses that are complimentary to yours. Connect with these businesses and brainstorm some mutually beneficial promotional ideas.

One idea is to offer special discounts for your partner’s business through your Instagram and your partner does the same for you. Keep in mind REFERRAL business is the BEST business. And both businesses benefit by tapping into a fresh customer base.

It’s important to not lose sight of the fact that Instagram is a social platform. Be less willing to sell and more willing to reach out and help others. Be involved in a meaningful way.

Find ways to give valuable content that makes it easy for followers to share it and you might find Instagram to be a great platform for your business… No matter what business that happens to be.

It’s your job to lay the groundwork for what you want people to know about your business and then supporting that identity by demonstrating your expertise and capability to deliver what you promise.

However, your customers will be the ones who decide what your overall brand image is based on their interactions with your business.

A well-defined, strategic brand message can build instant credibility in your industry, while helping you gain authority in your market and shape how customers perceive your business. It’s quite often the key difference between a well-structured online presence, and a faltering business that is struggling to connect with its audience.

So, how can you build a recognized brand that provides a clear message that resonates with your market?

Start by thinking about your target audience and what is most important to them. Once you’ve evaluated your audience, you will be able to position yourself so that you are directly addressing their most burning questions, concerns and needs.

To do this, you need to gather as much intel on your market as possible, which you can do easily just by looking at the competition.

What are other business owners and product developers offering your audience? What kind of products and services are they successfully selling?

Take things to social media and begin by evaluating social signals – which are clear indicators as to what is currently in demand, popular and selling well. The higher level of interaction, the more advertising dollars spent, and the more engagement; the better.

Knowing how to develop a strategic brand message begins by recognizing what is already successful and improving on it within your own business.

You want to become the go-to person in your niche market, the obvious choice when customers are considering who to turn to when making their purchasing decisions.

When you work towards building an unwavering presence in your market, starting with a strong foundation of trust, you’ll eliminate the initial barriers standing in the way of you connecting with your target audience.

To do that, you need to learn as much about them (your customers) as possible so that you can build a brand around what is most likely to capture their attention.

You’ll also be able to lower the barrier of resistance and leave a lasting impression on them. When you do that, they’ll come back to you time and time again.

And how do you do begin? It starts with what is called a U.S.P.
USP stands for unique selling proposition (or unique selling point), and it is critical that you establish what yours will be right from the start.

What U.S.P Really Means

Contrary to popular belief, a USP has nothing to do with logos, slogans or graphic design.

Sure, those are components of your overall brand that help people identify your products and recognize you, however, a USP is far more important than that when it comes to building your customer base, and breaking through the barriers of resistance that most businesses experience when they first appear in their market.

A USP is what truly tells potential customers how you are different from the competition. It helps to align your goals with your customer’s. Your USP tells them that you can be trusted, that you have their best interests at heart, and that you fulfill all promises. And most importantly, a USP ensures you aren’t a faceless brand.

This would include key factors that differentiate a product or service from its competition, such as the lowest price, an extended, no-risk guarantee, a unique or exclusive product or offer not found anywhere else, or the first-ever product of its kind.

Your USP should also demonstrate your dedication to satisfying customers, and provide reassurance that you stand by your products, and that there is no risk to your customer when doing business with you.

To start, think about what your product or service has that the competition doesn’t.

Consider ways you can highlight those differences and emphasize the benefits. Paint a clear picture as to why a prospect is making a wiser, sound decision to purchase your product instead of someone else’s.

Your USP is the driving force behind clearly illustrating value and giving potential customers a reason to purchase from you rather than the competition. That’s its one and only job.

Creating a unique brand that stands out in your industry and communicates to customers that you have something better to offer than your competitors can be an up hill climb at times, and nobody said it would be easy.

The key is to focus on defining how your brand is different than others and why customers should choose you over the competition and then going the extra mile for them.

Facebook continues to be one of the most popular and influential social media platforms in the world with more than one billion active users. As a business, you can no longer continue to leave Facebook out of your online marketing strategy.

If you want to grow your business, you have to have a presence on Facebook. However, to be successful, and build your Facebook fan base, you have to be engaged with your audience. Here are five of the best ways that you can boost Facebook engagement and increase your fan base.

Ask Questions

A great way to spark dialogue with your audience is to ask them questions. It’s by far one of the easiest ways to boost audience engagement on your Facebook fan page. The type questions that you can ask to get your fans to engage with you are endless. The key is to just get the conversation started.

Include Call to Actions

Unfortunately, from a marketing standpoint using clear CTA’s is something a lot of small businesses simply overlook.

Placing a call to action on your website pages and social media platforms sends psychological nudges that are proven to help you drive your audience to respond the way you want.

Want your audience to click here, call now, or schedule a consultation? Then tell them to do so. People tend to respond more often when they are told what to respond to.

Get the Timing Right

This may be obvious, but when it comes to posting to your Facebook page, timing is crucial. Facebook’s organic reach is already pretty low so the last thing that you want to do is post when everyone is working or sleeping.

Numerous studies have proven that the best times to engage with your audience is to post at 9 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm. These are the times that your audience is most likely to check for updates. Scheduling your posts ahead of time is an easy way to keep your audience engaged, even when you’re not online.

Utilize Facebook Ads

Due to Facebook’s newest algorithm, only a small fraction of your audience will get to see the wall posts on your Facebook page. If you want to boost the engagement of your audience, you can promote it through page post story ads, which will help your posts reach more people.

Posting Frequency

The frequency that you post has been shown to have a significant effect on Facebook engagement. According to recent studies, businesses that post one or two times per day have 40 percent higher engagement rate than those who post more than three times per day.

What works for some businesses may not work for others when it comes to boosting audience engagement. But generally speaking these tips are a great place to start if you want to increase your engagement with your audience, and generate more targeted traffic to your business.

Trying to pin down Google’s algorithm is a little like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. Why would you even try? It’s just going to fall off the nail anyway.

If that’s how you feel, it’s understandable. It can be frustrating. You want your site to appear on the first page of Google’s search results. But, the algorithm isn’t public, and Google is notoriously close-mouthed about it. But guess what?

You can’t stop trying.

Ranking high on Google is a must for every local business. The businesses that appear in the top five spots on Google get the lion’s share of the traffic. If you miss the mark, you’ll be missing out on business.

With that in mind, here are the most important things you need to know about what’s changing with Google – and why you should care.

#1: Google Searches Will Be Mobile-First

This first one is a big one and you can expect to have a big impact on your business. Google has a huge advantage in mobile search. One estimate is that while Google garners approximately 63% of desktop services, it grabs a whopping 95% of mobile search. People with smart phones really need to go out of their way to use a search engine other than Google.

Google knows that people are more likely to search local business on their mobile devices than on a desktop, and it also recognizes the importance of the “near me” search term when people are out and about.

You want to make sure that your business grabs one of those top spots in mobile search? Here are some quick tips to help you ensure that it does:

Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing and check your other online listings for accuracy

Make sure that your website is mobile-optimized and has a responsive format that will adjust to any device

Produce plenty of mobile-friendly content for your site

These things will ensure that Google knows your site is useful to mobile users.

#2: SEO Is Your Key to Showing Google Your Relevance

It’s no secret that Google prioritizes the user experience over everything else. That’s why keywords have diminished in importance while things like LSI, authority backlinks, and local reviews have risen as indicators of a site’s relevance and usefulness.

Keywords may not have the impact they once had, but there are other elements of SEO that are essential to ensuring that Google knows what your site’s about and why users will care about it.

The first thing is creating optimized content that’s highly engaging and useful to your site visitors. The more recent the content the better. If your site doesn’t have a blog, it should – and you shouldn’t wait to add one. Every blog post you write gives Google another reason to crawl your site, and users another reason to visit.

The second thing is your data. If you’re not already drilling down into your data from Google Analytics and social media, you should start. Those numbers aren’t just numbers – they’re a map that can show you the kind of content that’s most appealing to your followers.

#3: Content Still Reigns Supreme

Speaking of content, there’s simply no way to overstate its importance. While you’ll still need to optimize your site for keywords and use appropriate tags, your content is what will ultimately make a user decide to stay on your site or – alternatively – to click the dreaded back button and try again.

The truth is that posting content regularly is likely to garner you up to five times the results that you’ll get without regular content updates. That’s not a statistic you can afford to ignore – and you can be sure that Google will notice if you don’t create content that users care about.

Google won’t see all of these directly but that doesn’t mean they won’t have an impact on your Google search rank. If a text message prompts a mobile user to visit your site, Google will notice the traffic – and your site’s ranking may ultimately be affected by it.

#4: Video Content is Huge

Finally, there’s reason to believe that 2018 will truly be the Year of Video Marketing. We’ve been talking about the rise of video for a while now, but its importance continues to increase. Let’s start with this:

Whoa. We’re not talking about a tiny chunk of traffic here. Video traffic was already at 73% as of 2016 and its rise is ongoing.

Visitors to your site are four times more likely to watch an explainer video about your product or service than they are to read a page of text. Of course, there are exceptions – but you can’t afford to ignore the fact that preferences have changed.

The good news is that video is cheaper and easier than ever to product. You can pay big bucks for a professional videographer to make videos for your business, but you don’t need to. Even a decent smartphone camera can shoot video that’s good enough to represent your business.

Some videos – the more formal ones that appear on your site, for example – might benefit from high production values. But the videos that you post on social media can be casual and short – and don’t forget about live video as an option, too.

Now, about that Jell-O…

Yes, it’s a pain to keep up with Google’s constant changes. But ultimately, getting a nail through that Jell-O – even if you have to do it again tomorrow – is worth the time and effort. It’s the thing that will bring new visitors to your site – and help your business earn more revenue.

The social media landscape always seems to be changing. New sites don’t pop up every day, but our perception of them is always shifting. The same is true of the general public. You might feel like you need to maintain a presence on every social media site from Facebook to Instagram, but guess what?

You don’t. Not by a long shot.

In fact, it could be detrimental to your business to do that. Your target audience might be very active on Pinterest and Facebook and never give Twitter a second glance.

The trick is knowing which platforms are most likely to bear fruit – and which are better left alone. Here are some things that can help.

Understand the Key Attributes of Each Platform

Each social media platform has unique qualities. Sometimes the benefits of one platform overlap with another and sometimes, they don’t. Here’s a rundown of each platform’s marketing value as we see it.

Facebook

Facebook is still the biggest social media platform. That means that you’re likely to find a significant percentage of your target audience there. In most cases, choosing just one social media site for marketing probably means choosing Facebook.

Facebook is ideal for brand-building, establishing yourself as an authority in your industry or niche, and strengthening customer loyalty. It’s easy to share an array of content, including written, visual, and video content.

Of course, arguable Facebook’s biggest strength in terms of marketing is its advertising options. You can easily segment your target audience, run ads, view detailed analytics, and adjust as needed.

Twitter

Twitter is built for instant communications. It’s the perfect place to share updates with your followers, create an immediate give-and-take, and release company news without relying on the media.

Twitter’s use of hashtags also makes it easy to track your company’s mentions and trending topics. Many companies have integrated their customer service with their Twitter accounts to provide immediate support when it’s needed.

Pinterest

Pinterest focuses on visual content and is a great platform for driving users back to your blog or website. They also have an option that allows retailers to sell directly on Pinterest.

The ability to create micro-targeted boards and use hashtags can make it easy to ensure that people in your target audience see the content you create.

Instagram

Like Pinterest, Instagram is a visual platform where you can share photographs and videos of your products or services. It has a slightly more casual feel that the other sites we’ve mentioned so far and that can be useful for some brands because it can help them connect with customers.

Instagram is also a good place for user-generated content. For example. Starbucks uses Instagram every year for its White Cup Contest, where it asks users to decorate a plain white Starbucks cup with a unique design. The contest winner’s design is manufactured each year and available as a limited-run product in stores.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the best social media platform for B2B marketers. It’s where you can share relevant blog posts, connect with other leaders in your industry, and make the kinds of connections that can help your business grow.

You can target LinkedIn users by their industry and job title, as well as by using traditional keywords. Sharing information about your business is a good way to build credibility and trust.

Identify Your Target Audience’s Preferred Platforms

Now, you’ve got to take the time to clearly define your target audience and identify the social media platforms that they are most likely to use. To do that, it’s helpful to have a demographic breakdown of each site so you can narrow your options.

Facebook’s users are most often between the ages of 25 and 45, and they’re slightly more likely to be female than male (there’s a 60/40 split)

Twitter’s users are younger and mostly between the ages of 18 and 29. They are split evenly between men and women

Pinterest’s users are 80% women, and most are between the ages of 18 and 35, and they also tend to be affluent

Instagram’s users are mostly between the ages of 18 and 40, and skew slightly female with a 58%/42% split

LinkedIn’s users are professionals between the ages of 22 and 54, with a slight edge toward men, who make up 52% of users

These details should help you narrow your choices and decide which platforms make the most sense for your business. If you sell aspirational products that photograph well and appeal to women – for example, if you own a bridal boutique – you probably can’t afford to pass up on Pinterest.

Know How Much Time You’re Willing to Spend on Social Media

Let’s say that you’ve identified Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram as the most beneficial social platforms for your business. Does that mean you should set up accounts on all three?

Not necessarily.

To be effective, a social account must be active. That means you’ve got to tend to it every day, creating or curating new content and being there to answer questions and comments as needed. Here’s a rule of thumb for posting on each platform:

Facebook accounts should post one or two times per day

Twitter accounts should post three to four times per day

Pinterest accounts should post two or three times per day

Instagram accounts should post at least once a day

LinkedIn accounts should post two to four times per day

That would mean that if you chose the three platforms we mentioned above, you’d need to be prepared to post, at minimum, four times per day. While you can certainly overlap and post the same content in more than once place, you’ll also need to consider the platform’s strengths. For example, you won’t need hashtags on Facebook, but you will on Instagram.

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Choosing the right social platforms may take a little time…

But, it’s time well spent. Your time is valuable, and it makes no sense to waste it posting on platforms that your audience is not using.

If you’re a CPA or Attorney, you probably don’t use Pinterest…

Auto repair shops probably aren’t too active on LinkedIn…

Home remodeling & roofing contactors don’t do a lot of tweeting…

You see where I’m going with this?

So we hope this article will help you make the best choice for your own business – and for your bottom line.

You already know that local SEO is the name of the game. It’s essential to send Google signals – through keyword use and other SEO techniques – that your business is local, as well as it who it serves and where it is.

What you might not know is this:

Your online reviews play a direct role in your business making the cut to appear in the Google local three-pack.

In case you don’t know, that’s the collection of businesses that appear at the top of Google’s SERP when someone searches a keyword. It turns out that one of the keys to landing a coveted spot in the three-pack is getting good reviews. Here’s what you need to know.

The Proof That Reviews Matter

How can we tell that reviews make a difference in SEO? Google’s algorithm is proprietary and the known ranking factors (keywords, links, and Google Rankbrain, to name a few) don’t include reviews.

Local SEO experts have been saying this for a years, but it’s actually fairly easy to see that reviews are important. Google any local business category and you will get a list of results with a three-pack at the top. When you look at the businesses that made it into the three-pack, you’ll most likely see the following:

Star ratings pulled directly from online reviews of the business

Keywords in those reviews

For example, if you searched for the keyword “Spokane hair salon,” you would see reviews that related to that keyword. That’s all the proof we need to know that reviews make a difference in determining which businesses appear at the top of the SERP.

It’s also worth noting that the Local SEO Guide found that local reviews were the second most influential factor in determining search rank in their 2017 Local SEO Ranking Factors study. The influence in this study did appear to be limited to reviews that specifically included the keyword searched, but customers are likely to use the most commonly searched terms naturally.

In addition, LSI keywords that are related to the search term may also play a role. Try Googling your top keyword and looking at what’s highlighted in the reviews in the three-pack. You may notice that reviews that use semantically-related words show up even if they don’t use the precise term you searched.

The Reasons Google Likes Reviews for SEO

There are some concrete reasons that Google thinks reviews matter. They’re directly related to the ways that Google’s algorithm has evolved. In the early days of the internet, it was possible to get a page to rank highly on any search engine by simply stuffing it with keywords.

That changed because it omitted any concern for the experience of a user who clicked through to a site. After all, if you could click on a site because it ranked for a keyword only to find that it was useless to your needs, you wouldn’t revisit it – and you might resent the search engine that directed you to it in the first place.

With that in mind, here are the top three reasons that Google likes reviews for SEO.

It trusts outside sources more than it trusts you (at least when it comes to the relevance of your site.) This first reason is related to the ongoing importance that Google places on authority backlinks. It stands to reason that it would accept mentions and references from other sources as proof that your site is relevant to certain keywords and topics.

Google uses written content as a way of determining authenticity. When customers write reviews, they describe your business. They may even include information that’s not on your website. Even if you don’t list reviews on your site, these things can help flesh out the information on your site and give Google more context for its interpretation of your site.

Click-through rates also influence Google’s ranking algorithm. That might seem obvious, but what you need to know is that a business with lots of good reviews is, inevitably, going to get more clicks and traffic than a business with a few mediocre reviews. It’s in your best interest to encourage reviews if you want to boost your Google rank.

These three things explain why reviews matter to Google. The key takeaways here is that Google takes outside resources into account to help it determine the authenticity and usefulness of your website. Users “vote” for your site by writing reviews and describing your site. Just as web users trust peer reviews to help them make buying decisions, Google trusts them to help it make recommendations of which sites are most likely to be useful for the keyword searched.

How to Make the Most of Your Reviews

Here are some quick tips to help you make the most of your reviews:

Claim your listings on all relevant review sites. This includes Yelp and Google My Business, as well as local review sites. You want to make sure that you use keywords in your listing, link to your site, and include relevant information that will help people find you.

Link to your review pages directly from your website so customers can leave reviews if they want to.

Put a reminder about reviews on your receipts or comment cards. Remember that dissatisfied customers are often motivated to leave reviews, but happy customers will do so if you make it easy for them.

Send a note to your email list with a link to your review sites and ask them to leave a review.

Reply promptly to negative reviews to try to resolve them and get the reviewer to update their review.

These things will help you dial up the impact of your reviews and help you get into the coveted local three-pack for your most important keywords.

Reviews matter…

You know that, and now you can do something about it. Organic traffic is increasingly difficult to come by but encouraging and highlighting your reviews can help you get the biggest possible bang for your marketing bucks.

Online marketers talk about driving customers more than your average Uber driver – and who can blame them? Traffic is income, or at least it is if you do your job. If you can’t get people through the virtual door of your website, they won’t buy from you. It’s as simple as that.

The trick, of course, is getting them there. Your competitors are lined up like a row of carnival barkers, each trying to out-yell the others. You’ve got to find a way to make your voice heard above the chaos. And the secret it a surprisingly simple one:

Create better content than they do.

It’s been a long time since Bill Gates famously declared, “Content is king.” That doesn’t mean that it’s not true. In fact, content is happily sitting on that throne – and it determines how highly your site is ranked by Google and whether people will visit it, subscribe to your list, and turn into paying customers.

Easier said than done? Maybe, but here are 5 methods you can try to drive more customers with content marketing.

#1: Build Social Media Profiles & Engage Your Audience Consistently

There’s no denying that social media marketing is essential for local businesses. In fact, social content accounts for a whopping 93% of all B2B content and it’s responsible for a significant amount of B2C content, as well.

The first step is building your profiles. That means creating a consistent brand image by using your logo and a dedicated brand voice so that someone who finds you on Facebook won’t have any problem recognizing you from your website or other social accounts.

The second step is engaging your audience. You should plan on creating some content that’s unique to social media. You can also share your blog posts, YouTube videos, and other content from your website.

However, you should also be curating content from other sources as long as it fits in with your brand’s message. For example, we found a craft store in Seattle that shares:

DIY videos for craft projects from various YouTubers

Photographs and videos from artists

Information about local events of interest to crafters

The key is to make sure that the content you share is relevant to your followers.

#2: Contact Local Content Creators/Influencers

The next thing you can do is to pair up with local content creators and influencers both for content creation and for amplifying your brand’s reach.

Imagine that you owned a restaurant and you noticed that one of your food suppliers had a large following. You might approach them about creating content together or sharing one another’s content to help both of you. People who eat at your restaurant might like to know more about the person producing your ingredients and likewise, the people who follow your supplier might like to know where they can sample their products locally.

Of course, influencers don’t need to be directly connected to your business. Instead, they might simply have a lot of audience overlap to make cultivating a relationship with them worth your while. Use your imagination and keep an open mind for the best results.

You can find local influencers using websites like .peoplemap.co and tribegroup.co

#3: Partner with Local Businesses

You might also consider partnering with local businesses to build your brand and attract new customers. Sometimes, a partnership is the ideal way to lift both partners while at the same time providing relevant content to your followers.

For example, a local office supply store might pair up with a CPA to create content about how to organize your receipts and other information necessary for filing your taxes. Or a hair salon could pair up with a local charity that makes wigs for chemotherapy patients showing the process of how donated hair becomes a wig.

Here again the key is relevance. Any joint content you create should be relevant to your followers and give them the opportunity to learn something new – or try something new.

#4: Confirm Your Business on Mapping Platforms

Helping people find you online and in person is a key aspect of content marketing – and one you may be neglecting. Here are some examples of what you can do to make your business more visible:

Claim your listings on Yelp and other review sites and update all relevant information

Likewise, claim your listings on Google Maps and Apple Maps

Check your social media accounts to make sure your information is accurate and uniform

Enable check-ins and badges on Facebook and FourSquare

Respond to customer reviews on Yelp, Facebook, and Google

Doing these things will ensure that your business listings are accurate, and that people know you are a responsive and dedicated business owner – and trust us, that matters!

5: Event Marketing (Hosting Events and Experiences)

Finally, check out local events that you might be able to attend or sponsor. While our focus is on digital marketing, sometimes there’s no substitute for the personal touch.

If your marketing is primarily B2B, you might look for:

Chamber of Commerce meetings and events

Service organization meetings and events (think the Elks or the Lions)

Trade shows in your industry or related industries

Charitable events with corporate sponsors

B2C marketing requires a slightly different approach, but here are some suggestions:

Local charity events

Local festivals and holiday events, including street fairs and community celebrations

Gift fairs

Little league games (you could even sponsor a team)

If you don’t see any suitable events in your area, then you can always create one, either alone or by pairing up with other local business owners. The key is to increase your visibility by getting out into the community.

Remember, great content will always win…

It might feel a bit daunting to constantly need to come up with new content, but the five strategies we’ve outlined here can help to demystify the process and ensure that your content is always stands out and gets noticed.